The Troubles With Tommaso

By: cathal | November 25th, 2008

It was the big news just prior to the game last weekend and it shows no sign of letting up. Tommaso’s little dispute with King Delio didn’t seem much to me once the game had finished but is there something more to all this than what meets the eye?

It all kicked off on Saturday. Rocchi, upon hearing that he was to be left out of the starting eleven, expressed discontent regarding the decision. Now, didn’t Cribari do the same thing just a few weeks ago? He didn’t even make the bench after that argument. Not only that, but Emilson didn’t exactly go shouting his mouth off to the media and he’s not the captain.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all peeved with Tommaso but as club captain, he needs to think twice about disclosing his feelings publicly (see Gallas at Arsenal). In a sense, he has now set a dangerous precedent and the fact that Delio seems to have forgiven him (see second half against Genoa) doesn’t make things any better. Will we now see Foggia complain when he gets benched? Or Zarate throw his toys out of the pram because he’s played out of position? I hope not.

So what should we do about it? Well, I guess it depends on what the situation actually is. Tare has stated that Tommaso needs to lead by example and his comments will be discussed. Delio has said, well, nothing really, while Lotito has been quick to refute rumours of a swap deal for Pazzini. Rocchi wants to clarify things with our coach, which suggests to me that there was no direct bust-up but still a disagreement. Anyway, taking all this into consideration and also the fact Zarate has picked up a knock, I hope to see Tommaso and Goran lead the attack against Atalanta. Considering our next two games are against Milan in the Coppa and Inter in Serie A, I don’t think it would be foolish to give Maurito a rest. I think after all the talk of Pandev and Rocchi’s relegation in the ranks, giving them the shout at the weekend would do much for team morale. Perhaps I’m wrong but it will definitely be interesting to see what Delio decides on.